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the new Frog of the genus Pelodytcs^ for which he had proposed the name 

 P. caiicasicus. Altogether ten species of Batrachians were now known from 

 the Caucasus. — Mr. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S. , read the second of his con- 

 tributions to the Anatomy of Picarian Birds. The present communication 

 related to the pterylosis of tlie Capitonidae. — Mr. M. F. Woodward read 

 a paper on the Dentition of certain Insectivores , and pointed out that there 

 was strong evidence to show that the milk-dentition was undergoing reduc- 

 tion in this group as a whole, some of the milk-teeth in Erinaceiis and Gym- 

 nura being present as small calcified tooth-vestiges only, while in Sorex 

 there were apparently no calcified milk-teeth, but only vestigial milk-enamel 

 organs. He concluded that |^ and ^^^ were tending to be suppressed, and 

 that the latter when present was a persistent milk-tooth, that d.pm.4 was 

 probably a true but precociously developed molar, p.pm.4 being a retarded 

 milk-premolar. From a consideration of the ontogeny of the molar-cusps, 

 he concluded that the true primary cone in the upper molars was Osborn's 

 »paracene«, its homologue in the lower jaw being the protoconid. Frompalae- 

 ontological evidence Mr. Woodward pointed out that there was not sufficient 

 proof to justify the tritubercular theory as applied to the upper molars. — 

 A communication from Mr. A. D. Bartlett contained some notes on the 

 breeding of the Surinam Toad [Pipa americana)^ as recently observed in the 

 Society's Gardens. It had been observed that the eggs when issued from the 

 cloaca of the female, which was protruded into a bladder-like process during 

 their production, were arranged on the back of the female by the action 

 of the male. 



May 19th, 1896. — Mr. Sclater exhibited a Daguerreotype portrait 

 of what was believed to be the first Gorilla that was ever brought alive to 

 Europe. It was living in Wombwell's Menagerie in 1855. This portrait 

 had been lent to Mr. C. Bartlett by Mr. Fairgrieve, formerly associated with 

 Mr. Wombwell, who had sent with it an account of the animal and its ha- 

 bits. — A communication was read from Mr. G. E. H. "Barrett-Hamil- 

 ton, F.Z.S., on a variation in the pattern of the teeth of a specimen of the 

 Common Field-Vole [Microtus agrestis) , in which the first up^er molars on 

 both sides had a small but well-developed extra enamel fold, giving three 

 angles on the outer side and four on the inner side of each tooth and six 

 cement spaces. — A second communication from Mr. Barr e tt-H amilt on 

 contained remarks on the existence in Europe of two geographical races or 

 subspecies of the Common Field-Vole. Mr. Barrett -Hamilton considered- 

 the Field- Voles of England, Belgium, and the North of France, and pos- 

 sibly of a large part of the Continent, as distinct from the Scandinavian ani- 

 mals, which would remain the typical Microtus agrestis^ while the Britith and 

 western continental form should be called Microtus agrestis negleetus^ Jenyns. 

 This view agreed with that of De Selys-Longchamps in 1847. — Mr. F. E. 

 Beddard, F.R.S., read the third of his contributions to the anatomy of 

 J'icarian Birds. The present paper related to the variations in pterylosis and 

 in anatomy of the Alcedinidae, of which he had examined specimens. Although 

 this family was so uniform in external structure, it presented considerable 

 differences when the pterylosis and anatomy were examined. — Mr. de 

 Win ton described a new Rodent of the genus Lophuromys from British E. 

 Africa, which he named L. Ansorgei. Its nearest ally was L. sikapusi, Temm. ; 



